MANHATTAN – Despite a career-high 26-point performance by senior center David Thompson (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior), the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team fell in a hotly contested road contest, 79-74, versus New York University on Sunday at the Jerome S. Coles Center. 

The Spartans (12-8, 4-5 University Athletic Association) led 73-72 following a Thompson jumper with 1:17 left to play, but the Violets (15-5, 5-4 UAA) finished on a 7-1 run to salvage a season split with CWRU. The Spartans had two separate chances to tie the game in the final five seconds, but a missed shot and errant inbounds pass left the visitors on the short end of the score. 

Overall, the game saw 13 lead changes and nine ties. 

Thompson added seven rebounds and shot a career-best 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, while sophomore point guard Jimmy Holman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) added 16 points and dished out a team-best six assists.

Evan Kupferberg was the top performer for the host Violets with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Thompson started hot with 12 of his team's first 14 points, and a running jumper by Holman gave CWRU a 16-15 lead at the 11:45 mark of the first half. NYU tied for the half's largest lead (five) late in the period when Patrick Burns scored a layup to make the score 35-30 with 2:09 on the clock. The Spartans were able to trim two off of their deficit and went into the locker room down, 37-34. 

Thompson finished the half with 19 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range. 

In the second half, Kupferberg put NYU on top by a high of seven with a jumper that pushed the score to 47-40 with 14:04 remaining. The Spartans then scored the next six as junior forward Dane McLoughlin (Westerville, Ohio/St. Charles Preparatory) hit three foul shouts after being fouled behind the arc, and junior guard Julien Person (Houston, Texas/Second Baptist) converted an "old-fashioned" three-point play at 13:27. 

Back-and-forth play resumed before a McLoughlin trey followed by a Person free throw would tie the game at 60 with 6:49 to play. Several minutes later, NYU regained the advantage and would not relinquish it until Thompson's jumper from the charity stripe at 1:17. 

A Ryan Tana jumper gave the Violets a 74-73 lead with 45 seconds to play, and Kupferberg added a free-throw to extend the lead to two at 00:39. NYU's Tana and CWRU's Thompson each went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line, but missed opportunites for the Spartans put the Violets at the line to seal the deal. 

The Spartans return home for their final games inside the friendly confines of Horsburgh Gymnasium on Friday and Sunday, February 14-16. The weekend opens with Seniors' Night versus the University of Rochester (N.Y.) on Friday at 8:00 p.m. Prior to tip-off, CWRU will honor Thompson and senior guard Tim Chung (Cypress, Calif./Los Alamitos).